First Aid for Dummies
by Havock612
Summary: Author's Note: Original Character Takes place in the Star Wars universe 9 ABY. One of the splintered imperial factions, the Vast Empire, survives and continues to Thrive. This is a story about one of their troopers and her training. www. vastempire .com


_Author's Note: (Original Character) Takes place in the Star Wars universe 9 ABY. One of the splintered imperial factions, the Vast Empire, survives and continues to Thrive. This is a story about one of their troopers and her training after enlisting in the army. More stories about Havock and other Vast Empire troopers can be found at www. vastempire .com/main/_

She looked at the datapad again as she ran through the hallways of the training center. _I can't believe I'm going to do this. _Karash, the RAIDERS current medic, started all of this by giving her the datapad that she was currently clutching in her hands as she ran. Havock liked working on vehicles. One day, when she had money and excessively more time, she would love to have dozens of vehicles in various stages of repair to work on. Given her history of injuries on missions and the need for more medical personnel than grease monkey's right now, she begrudgingly went along with a specialty change.

Havock skidded to a halt in front of the large grey door, the sign to the left of the controls had a red plus symbol. _Medic, me, really?_ She was still shaking her head when the door slid open revealing an equally shocked looking combat medic who must have been running the training.

"Lost, Sargeant?"

She looked down at the datapad one more time, trying to talk herself out of this crazy idea. Finally she knew the answer. "No, Sir." Havock slid past the man and found a seat, trying not to look like she had just been grounded.

--~--

"So." Sergeant Kern slammed his pointer into the board causing Havock to jump for the third time during the lecture. "The A,B,C's are…and if any of you hooligans start reciting the alphabet I will break your finger and leave you to figure out what to do about it."

Kern looked around the room mostly full of privates and smirked as his eyes fell on the sergeant patch on Havock's shoulder.

_Fan-friggin-tastic. _ She sat up knowing what was about to happen, rather than waiting for another charming remark from the man Havock decided to just answer the question. "Airway, Breathing, Circulation. It's the three critical things you look for in an emergency."

"Sergeant, you could try to sound a little interested in what you are saying. But you are at the very least correct. How about another?" Kern watched as Havock nodded then he smirked at the prospect of tripping her up. "In regards to circulation, where are the three places on a typical humanoid you could check for that?"

Havock crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair. This was becoming slightly more interesting and nobody knew that Karash had already given her most of the information that they were covering in this lecture, so in reality she was well ahead of the game here. "Wrist, carotid artery in the neck, and groin."

Kern narrowed his eyes and leaned over the table to look at the apathetic woman who was obviously messing up his plans to embarrass someone today. Havock, on the other hand, was sitting casually seeming completely unrattled as he stared at her.

"Can you move the victim?"

Havock sighed. "No. Not until you evaluate the situation, even then it may be unsafe to move the patient given their injuries. If possible you call for help then determine if the patient is still conscious. Which if they are you would only move them in order to open the airway."

Kern shook his head and narrowed his gaze even more at Havock. He coughed as he walked around the table, then he crossed his arms to lean against it. By his posture it was obvious that she was not off the hook just yet.

"If they are not breathing?"

Now the other students in the class, even the ones that were nearly asleep, were all perked up and watching the two as if they were part of a tennis match going back and forth. "If they are not breathing you need to clear the airway. If its clear and they do not have a pulse, then you have to try CPR."

"Ha, what does CPR stand for?"

"Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, would you like me to continue, sir?"

Kern actually shook his head in disbelief, Havock was pretty surprised at herself, but was not going to let some instructor act like he was so high and mighty just because she spent the better part of her military career working with tanks. Finally he nodded and waved a very aggravated hand in her direction.

"Okay, you start by checking for a clear airway, then cover the patient's mouth with your own, pinch the patient's nose closed, then fill the patient's lungs with two slow even breaths, then do five chest compressions. Check for pulse and breathing, if nothing's changed repeat. Now you're going to make sure I was listening during the bleeding part aren't you?"

Sergeant Kern was rubbing his temple. The man must have hated having someone in his class that was actually able to recite all the information, given his abuse of the board with his pointer Havock was sure that translated into pure delight at punishing his trainees. She must not have been far off from the looks she was getting from the rest of the class. By their faces she wasn't sure if she would be walking out of class or if they would carry her on their shoulders. None of that was what Havock wanted, she just wanted to get some training so that Karash would believe her that she actually did read the material she was given and that she knows enough to not get herself killed and maybe even help him from time to time. Although the thought of Karash in this man's class brought a smile to her face, she knew that her friend would have wanted to give this sergeant a piece of his mind if he could have.

Kern waved his hand once again for Havock to continue. This time the look on his face was more of an expectation to be disappointed mingled slightly with respect. Before she could answer he interrupted. "On second thought, come up here and join me Sergeant."

She shot the man a skeptical look, then slowly got up out of her seat and leaned against the table next to Kern. "Katash, right?" Havock nodded. "We have seven other areas we covered this class, I'm assuming you remember all of them?" She nodded again. "Good. Now you get to call on seven of them to answer those questions."

Great. Havock did as she was told, and got shaky but ultimately correct answers for controlling bleeding, treating shock, choking, burns, concussions, spinal injuries and blaster fire injuries. The information they were given was basic in nature, so it was more about stabilizing the patient rather than actually fixing the problems. The part about actually fixing the problems would be covered later on in the program.

"Hrm, good work Sergeant Katash, you may take your seat." Kern grumbled as he walked back over to the holoprojector. By the time Havock sat down he was already on the next slide. "The three P's people. That's preserving life, preventing further injury, and promoting recovery. That is your primary function on the battlefield. That is why you now know first aid, to do these three things."

"Here is the fun part, troopers. That table behind you is full of random items. Your job is to take what you now know and go build yourself a first aid kit. You should know the essential items, so this should be a piece of cake for all of you. You have thirty minutes, which is more than enough time, to complete the task then I will check it, you get it right your done and you pass. Any questions?"

Kern raised his hand and pushed a button on a small timer device, at that moment every occupant in the room shot up and took off towards the table. Every occupant, except Havock. She shook her head at the overly eager privates and decided to wait until the crowd has sightly dispersed.

By the time she did reach the table there was only ten minutes left and three privates pondering over which items to take. Frankly the number of times she had seen Karash's medical kit made this task almost redundant.

Gathering the items, Havock walked back to her seat and sat down watching the timer run down to zero with little emotion.

"Okay thats it, and I think I know exactly where I want to start." Not surprised in the least, Havock watched as Kern walked directly to where she was sitting. He touched each item, muttering their names. "Meds, tweezers, sterile wipes, tape, gauze, bacta bandages, ointment, scissors, cold packs, gloves, meh, meh, meh."

Havock raised her eyebrow. "Honestly I was hoping you would at least mess this part up. Alright Sergeant, looks good, you are dismissed." The man actually looked defeated by the fact that she had done so well. It surprised her more than anything else. With wide eyes, Havock stood saluted and walked out the door, making her way back home.


End file.
